…and Other Unlikely Places

The Secret Path to Producers?

The other day I flipped through MovieMaker magazine and came across the article Perfect Pitch by Ken Rotocop that had this interesting insight:

I’ve been the creative head of four studios, so I know what happens when a studio gets a synopsis: One quick glance and it goes right into the wastebasket.

A synopsis cannot help you—it can only kill you.

So what should you do if a producer has shown interest in your idea?

Send him the first ten pages of the script—and send it with the following letter:

In my screenwriting workshops, my students have been sending out the first 10 pages of their screenplays for the last four years—and the response from producers and executives they’ve submitted their work to has been 100 percent positive!…So now that you know the secret, don’t screw it up—make sure those first 10 pages are dynamite!

In those 10 pages, we better darn well learn:* Who the protagonist is* What he (or she) wants* Who or what is stopping him or her from getting it!Ken RotocopMovieMakerIssue No. 65, Volume 13, Page 42

P.S. Now 100% sounds like hyperbole, but any writers out there had success with doing this? Any producers/executives like this technique?

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